'66 REAR WHEEL BEARING WEAR

[Rob A.]

The squeek in the right rear assembly turned out to be the wheel bearing. With 81,000 miles, is that considered normal life for the bearing. Is there any way to lubricate the other rear wheel bearing with the trailing arm in place to prevent it from wearing out prematurely?

[Joe L.]

Re: '66 REAR WHEEL BEARING WEAR

Rob-----

Generally, Corvette rear wheel bearings will go a little longer than 81,000 miles, but I would say that at 81,000 miles they've lived a long and productive life. I certainly wouldn't classify it as a "premature" bearing failure. Lots of factors can affect bearing life.

There's really no effective way to re-lube rear wheel bearings "in situ". There is a tool which can be purchased which allows the lubrication of the INNER wheel bearing. The best plan is to remove the spindle and bearings. Replace the bearings, pack with Valvoline Syn Power synthetic grease and you'll likely never need to worry about them again.

[Rob A.]

THANKS FOR THE INFO JOE... *NM*

[Jim T.]

Re: THANKS FOR THE INFO JOE...

Rob I bought the tool Joe mentioned to lubricate the inner bearing way back in 1975. I have never used it. Later I bought the tools from Kent Moore and repack the bearings after removal.

[Chuck R.]

Re: '66 REAR WHEEL BEARING WEAR

Hi Rob,

As much as the handy dandy greasing tool seems tempting, I would be exteemly concerned about #1 the amount of grease it would take to fill the cavity between the inner and outter bearings and #2 possibly blowing out the grease seals, especially the outters.

With all the work that's put into cleaning these machines up, I for one wouldn't want to re-visit a grease soaked trailing arm assembly, wheel well or rim that might have slung grease all over it.

Maybe there are those out there that HAVE had great luck with these items. If so, I for one would be very interested in their feedback.

J.M.O.

Chuck